The Bright Side with Kevin & Jason

Reading can be dangerous, what with all those evil forces out there trying to stymie the free transmission of liberating ideas. And now we have to worry about cholera?! This week, the guys turn the page to when the fear of these new things called germs caused people to think that library books could spread disease.

Given that this episode is dropping on Thanksgiving, Kevin and Jason would also like to take a moment to thank you for listening, to this and all of our episodes. We appreciate you and love you, and we'd be nothing without you. Gobble Gobble!

Women didn't fare so well in last week's episode. To balance the scales a little bit, this week the guys take a deep dive into the life of Dr. Rosalind Franklin, the badass woman of science whose work directly led to the understanding of the structure of DNA, among many other achievements. In a time when women in STEM were subjected to vast sexism and condescension, Dr. Franklin brashly broke the mold in the search for scientific truths.

No, that's not a new title for the show! It is, however, a pretty good description of the people featured in this week's episode! Come get high with the guys as they expel gas and yank your chain with the tale of the Leicester Balloon Riot of 1864.

Norway, Jose! This week, the guys lube up their absolutely worst accents to take you, our loyal listener, to a magical place of fjords, riverboat cruises, wooden shoes (?) and the great Norwegian Butter Crisis of 2011.

What would life be without the ability to look down on other people? This week, the guys look down from a great height, high enough to see the curve of the earth, in order to delve into the Flat Earth Movement. We promise, it's just as dumb as you've come to expect from us.

Are you blue? Now, is it just a feeling, or are you literally blue? This week, they guys set off into the wild blue yonder to learn about the Blue Fugates of Kentucky, a clan of people with a rare genetic condition that turned their skin blue for generations. If you're not tired of hearing the word "blue" yet, stay tuned!

Pennsylvania is not really known for being the focal point for intense tragedies, but maybe we should reconsider that reputation. This week, the guys revisit the home of the Centralia Fire (featured on the show all the way back on Episode 9) to stare into the murky depths of the 1948 Death Fog of Donora, PA. Maybe try not to breathe too deep as you listen, just to be safe.

Exams aren't the only things you can cram for. This week, the guys get into the stuff of legends as they spelunk into the weird, brief fad of shoving as many college students into a phone booth as possible. Though the fad only went for about a year in the 50s, the memories will last a lifetime for those confused college boys.

Romancelandia, the fellowship of romance authors and their readers, is a famously supportive and tight community. Until it isn't. This week, the guys plunge into the #CockyGate scandal, wherein romance author Faleena Hopkins tried, rather cockily, to prevent other authors from placing a commonly-used word into any title of any published work, anywhere, anytime. As you might suspect, things didn't go great for her.

Here at the Bright Side, we've always assumed that our listeners were just very special people. But this week, we explore the possibility that you all are actually genius reincarnations of an extinct Martian race, sent to us to warn of the dangers of nuclear war. Either way, thanks for the support!